Puppet

By: Bloodlover

Disclaimer: Baldur´s Gate and the characters belong to Black Isle, I don´t own anything. The main character´s name however is mine.

A/N: When playing BG 2 I did the Harper quests and was really intrigued by them. However, you never get to really talk to a real Harper after the full plot about Galvarey and Dermin is revealed. What would for example Reviane think? I always thought it was strange that no Harper went up to you to talk after the Dermin finale. (Except Elminster.) My guess is that it must have been a traumatic experience for many Harpers, seeing that the organisation is more like a family. (At least according to Jaheira.) I´m sure they wanted to heal the scars. Not to mention the possible risk that the PC might be hostile towards them.

I chose Reviane as the narrator for the story, because she was the closest to a "real" Harper you got to meet. It never looked to me like she was with Galvarey. To me it just looked like she was misled by the rumors regarding Galvarey´s death. At least that was my impression. On my first try I didn´t know you could get away without having to fight if you just had high reputation. I felt bad about being forced to kill her so the next time I played, I did a lot of reputation boosting quests before even going to confront Galvarey.

"A puppet.."

A slender woman laid outstretched on a bed, staring up at the roof. The room was tidy even though there were some dust in the corners. She hated it when it was dirty. Cleaning, however, was the last thing on the woman´s mind at the moment.

Yes a puppet, a doll who is manipulated by strings but never sees it´s master.

Reviane sighed.

Yes. I was a puppet. WE were all puppets thanks to Galvarey.

Her eyes narrowed when she thought of him. He had been an important member of the Harpers, had been a TRUSTED member of the Harpers.

And he had used them all, used their name to get power. Worse, people had trusted him with their lives literally. He had planned to imprison a young woman named Terelya to gain influence, he had wanted the power to become an Herald.

Terelya yes. I remember her.

The one who had killed Galvarey and four other Harpers. When Reviane heard about that she could barely wait until she could get a chance to bring justice to the murderer. And Jaheira another Harper who had stood by the murderer´s side. That had hurt more because Jaheira was a long time friend.

Problem was Terelya wasn´t a murderer. She killed Galvarey but it was self defense. He wanted to imprison her. A fate worse than death.

Reviane shivered. She knew that the victim of an imprisonment spell was contained under the earth and could not be brought back unless the right spell was cast. A terrible fate indeed!

She began thinking of Terelya again.

I remember at that tavern called the Copper Coronet in Athkatla, how I heard how people were talking about how heroic and brave Terelya was. At first I disgarded them but then…

"Strange that a killer of Harpers would go around doing stuff like catching murderers and freeing slaves." That was what one of my companions said as we walked out from the Copper Coronet where we had gathered information. Yes that was what we were all asking ourselves. But we did our best to disgard them. Until that day…

They had finally tracked down Terelya in the Umar Hills, the young woman´s party had been tired and it looked it would be an easy task to bring justice to them. Terelya herself was the first one to stop, she was a paladin.

That should have been another clue, right Reviane? A paladin is a champion of justice, hardly someone who would go around on a killing spree. Not to mention the other good things people said about her…

But Reviane hadn´t thought of that, for the moment the only thing she knew was that this was someone who had killed Harpers. With the aid of a Harper who was a friend of hers.

Jaheira...

The druid walked next to Terelya, aiding her. I clenched my fist. "Aiding a murderer of your kin? How can you Jaheira?!"

I stepped out of hiding blocking the group´s path, the rest of the Harpers following with drawn weapons. Obviously we had surprised them, they were all gasping. Jaheira looked like she had seen a ghost, A tall, bald man who strangely had a hamster with him drew his sword, a slim Kara Turan put a hand on the other man´s shoulder to calm him down, a strange blue haired man just watched me calmly. Somehow that one gave me the creeps… Terelya herself was clearly caught off guard. A bearded man with a mace stood by her side. It looked like he was ready to die for her…

"Hold! And let justice take it´s rightful measure! You will know this day that you have suffered Harper justice!"

Jaheira spoke up first. "What is this?! Reviane? What are you doing here? It is I, Jaheira!"

"So I can see." I tightened the grip on my weapon. Despite what had happened I knew Jaheira. "It pains me to do this."

But the druid was no longer my friend but a criminal "But a traitor´s death is all what you deserve!" I spat out the words.

"What? If this is about the events in the Harper Hold you know I would never do such a thing if I didn´t have any altenative! They left me no choice!"

Doubt welled up inside me again. Jaheira sounded so desperate, so angry…But I fought down it again. "I know not of what you speak Jaheira. Explain yourself!"

"It was Galvarey, he had me bring my companion there on pretense of determining her danger, but he had no intention of letting Terelya leave once there."

I watched Jaheira´s face closely. She was telling the truth. Or at least that was how it looked like… But how could that be? No Harper would even dream of doing that to someone unless they were truly guilty. "The Harpers know only that there was an attack and Galvarey is dead. The loss of such a promising person sent waves through the ranks and…

Jaheira snorted with contempt. "Bah! He was a fool bent on advancing his own station! His intent was to use Terelya as a trophy, hoping to gain enough influence to become a Herald!"

The venom in Jaheira´s voice… It almost made me step back. It had nothing to do with the interrupting, Jaheira did so from time to time. But when she had that temper… Still I couldn´t quite believe her yet. Or at least I didn´t want to. I didn´t want to think of what it would mean if what Jaheira said was true.

"This seems far-fetched Jaheira. You are well known to have hated Galvarey… And why should this woman command such value?" I fixed Terelya with a stern gaze. I know I was probably unfair but I couldn´t help to blame her for the whole situation. If it hadn´t been for HER the whole situation would never have happened. She just looked back with a pained expression. She swallowed before she turned to Jaheira.

"Tell her… tell her what I am if it will help your case Jaheira. I will not keep secrets that can harm you."

The druid nodded back. "As you wish. Reviane, Terelya is one of the Children. Galvarey wished to capitalise on the fear surrounding the prophesies of old."

The Children. The Children of the now dead lord of Murder, Bhaal. Everyone who had red Aluando´s prophesies knew about them and what would be sown in their footsteps. Murder death and blood. Chaos. I heard my companions gasp and tightening their hold on their weapons. I understood them well. It took all my willpower to not run away or charge this… this Bhaalspawn that stood before us. Terelya and her friends, including that strange blue haired one, looked as tense as well.

"This is Bhaal child?! And you trust her over one of your own?" My voice trembled.

Jaheira didn´t let this faze her. Now she was the one who looked stern. She didn´t sound angry but there was something final about the tone of voice. "You must do as you will Reviane. I have told you my cirumstances, there is little more for me to say."

Silence.

For a long moment the two groups could do nothing more than just glare at each other, weapons waiting to be drawn. Terelya´s group who was ready to defend themselves and my own group who didn´t know who or what to trust anymore. Finally the silence was broken by Terelya herself.

"Stand down your weapons Jaheira. All of you. We need not shed any blood today."

The druid spoke up again but this time her tone of voice was a little softer. "I will not draw arms against you Reviane. This has been a huge mistake and I will not be party to making another.

That was the moment when I made my desicion. Jaheira who was willing to go up against us, the Harpers her own kin, for a woman who was destined to creating chaos and death. Terelya herself, a Bhaal child but also a noble paladin who was loved and praised by so many…

I didn´t know if it was the right decision at the time, not truly. But sometimes you have to trust. This action of mine was something I could stand for.

Reviane rolled over to her right side to look at her halberd. It was a deadly weapon and many opponents had fallen for it. She resumed to go through her memories.

I softened my expression. "I know you to be truthful Jaheira. And I have heard good things about this Terelya. I will try to sway the others but beware passions run high in this matter. I can´t give any guarantees."

At that Jaheira and the rest relaxed and sheathed their weapons. I gestured to my companions to do the same and we disappeared into the wildness.

"I did the right choice. I know that for sure today. But what had happened if I hadn´t? What if I would have fought them whatever Jaheira or Terelya told me? Would we have won? Maybe. Maybe not. If we had lost I would have been dead and so would my companions. We would have been dead and feast for scavengers. Because of a couple of power hungry manipulators."

"Hello Reviane."

She nearly fell from the bed. An old wizard stood in the doorway. She had great hearing sense yet she hadn´t heard when he came. She sat up and greeted the wizard.

"Hello Elminster."

The wizard stepped into the room and smiled warmly at her. "Sorry I did not mean to scare you."

She shook her head, a little embarassed for being so easily scared. "No, no you didn´t scare me."

"That´s good to hear. I just wanted you to know that I have met Terelya and her friends."

"Yes?"

"I told them that they had nothing to fear from us. That we know the truth about what happened at the Harper Hold and they were not to be blamed. I asked Jaheira if she would have done the same if she were faced with the same choice. She said yes without hesitation. I gave her the Harper pin."

Reviane nodded. "That´s good to hear. She has earnt it."

"Thought you would say that. I told her to put this behind her. And now I say the same to you." He seemed to have noticed her inner struggle. "I think we all should."

"Yes but…" Reviane struggled with the words. "I don´t know how this will affect my friendship with Jaheira. No matter how much we´ll say we´ll put it behind us, I almost crossed arms with her. You can´t forget that easily. And Terelya herself… Will she trust any Harpers now?"

The wizard sighed. "That will be determined in the future. But don´t worry Reviane. Terelya seems to be a woman who is easy forgives. She now knows about the truth about us and our intentions. And Jaheira knows it too. I give you the same advice I gave them. Get back to work!"

She smiled back. "Of course."

THE END